The Case of the Palm Tower Plummet
by GrantP28
Summary: After a famed former child star falls to his death from the ritziest hotel in Sahara Square, the ZPD has locked down the hotel in an attempt to unravel what happened. But soon Nick and Judy will uncover a plot that spans far beyond the dunes and threatens the whole city. (Part 1 of a hopefully successful series, please Read and review!)
1. Prologue

**CSI: ZOOTOPIA**

 **CASE #1**

 _ **The Palm Tower Plummet**_

 _ **Prologue**_

A clear sky and a full moon hung over Sahara Square casting a spell of silence over the normally busting district.

The pale reflection of the sphere shimmered perfectly in the quiet blue pool in front of Palm Tree Tower, closed for the evening with only a few stray late check ins crossing it to reach the main lobby.

It was one of these half sleep guests that first noticed something was amiss as he stepped on a shard of broken glass and impulsively jumped in pain. He looked at it curiously and then realized there were several other shards scattered near the edge of the pool.

Then he felt a sting as several more fell on his head and he instantly looked up, to see one of the massive windows close to the top level was completely busted apart.

Before he could even comprehend what he saw a scream broke the still air and he froze in place. Time seemed to slow down as he watched helplessly, the small mammal plummeted toward the water smashing into the deep end with a crushing blow.

Hastily he raced to the front desk to tell the clerk of the horror he just saw even as the exterior of the luxury hotel returned to normal and the lifeless body of the victim floated to the surface, slowly turning the clean water a dark bloody red.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Mornings at the Grand Pangolin Arms were almost routine for the young bunny, so much so that she normally woke up five minutes before her alarm went off.

On the calendar it reminded her it was the first of the month and time to pay rent so before even switching on her night light, she slid her smart phone from underneath her pillow and slid it unlocked to called her parents.

The image of her Mom and Dad appeared for a moment and then the two bunnies showed up on the webcam as they stumbled and tried to work the phone.

"Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?" Stu asked as he breathed hard on the camera.

She stifled a laugh and replied, "Dad, dad you're looking at the wrong end."

She waited as he fumbled for a moment and stuttered saying, "Oh... there ya are. Bonbon, Judy is on the ringer."

"My its super early dear, is everything alright?" her mother asked in concern. Judy smirked at them and said, "Everything is fine. It's just rent day, and you know how my salary goes."

"Oh, uh right.. look Judy we forgot to tell you.." Bonnie muttered to which her father remarked, "We're kinda behind in sales. Carrots aren't as in demand this season with all this new fangled hybrid stuff."

"Are you guys doing alright? Do you need me to come down next weekend," the bunny wondered, knowing it wasnt common for her folks to be without. Even though her family had done well over the years, she knew from time to time that the carrot farming business could get slow.

"Don't worry about us dear, but maybe this will teach you to budget a little better," Bonnie said. "Right, I'll talk with Ms. Armadillo, she is pretty understanding," Judy said with a nervous smile and then checked the clock and added, "I got to go."

"All right Judy, sorry we couldn't help ya much, don't be a stranger," Stu began even as he accidentally hung up. Judy shook her head and then got ready, quickly brushing her teeth, combing her hair and getting into uniform.

As usual she looked at herself in the mirror and smiled triumphantly at the badge, ever since she had first gotten it she never stopped being proud of the achievement.

Rushing out of the small apartment, she hurried down to the main lobby where the armadillo who ran the apartment was busy sorting thru mail and slowly dropping it into the correct slot before noticing the young female bunny standing there.

"Oh, Officer Hopps, up bright and early as usual," the friendly landlady remarked as she passed Judy her mail. "Good morning Miss Dharma," she said fidgeting her a moment as she considered a way to bring up her rent being late and then noticed a few of the residents of the Pangolin were watching some sort of news report in the small dining room that Ms Armadillo occasionally served breakfast in.

"Something going on?" Judy asked distracted by the bulletin and wandered into the room. A young squirrel stood on the shoulders of an antelope to turn up the volume and they all listened as the ram reporter explained, "...details at this time. The ZPD is expected to canvas the area around the Palm Tower to determine if this was an accident or possibly the very first homicide in Zootopia history!"

Judy's eyes widened in shock as she too heard the word of a possible murder and realized she had to get to the luxury hotel right away. Grabbing a bagel from the nearby tray, she sprinted out of the apartment complex completely forgetting anything else.

On a normal day she knew that her police car would be parked outside with her partner waiting for her around 7 in the morning. But since it was still rather early and she knew that the fox was likely already heading to the crime scene she ran across the street and bounded toward one of the many entrances to the Central train station.

Even this early in the day the place was already filled with commuters from every district in the massive metropolitan area preparing to move around the city for work or pleasure. Judy had been in the city for months now but she still sometimes just sat back and marveled at the sheer ingenuity of the mammals that had built the city ages ago. Making her way to an escalator behind several large elephants and an ox, she checked her phone and quickly text her partner just in case he was driving across town to pick her up.

.

Ever since Nick Wilde had joined the ZPD two months ago the bunny had insisted that he come stay with her at the Pangolin until he found a place of his own, but the fox had insisted that he could take care of himself so she hadn't pressed the issue. The grizzly handling the tickets reached down and inspected her ZPD pass that allowed her free transit on the train and then ushered her in, muttering for other commuters to show any sort of promotional material they had brought now.

Fifteen minutes later the fast moving train was speeding away from the downtown area to the west, a familiar journey she had made many times to get to Bunnyburrow. I wont be going that far today she thought as she watched from the dining cart and the train sped out of Savannah Central and toward the other districts.

Judy watched as the sun stretched over the elaborate skyscrapers she had come to call home, basking the entire valley with a reddish glow as all across Zootopia another day began. Soon that image darted from sight as one of the city's impressive geothermal walls zoomed by and the young bunny found herself entering the dunes.

The train she was on veered away from the main line slowing to a halt near a station that overlooked one of the many plazas. To her left Judy could make out the naturalization club and even saw a few night shift workers from the arena rushing to go enjoy the freedom the private group offered. She shuddered trying not to imagine the sweaty hippos in such a light and instead sprinted across the marble plaza toward the glistening oasis of Palm Tower.

Soon though it became clear that the normally beautiful structure was anything but this morning as yellow tape kept onlookers and reporters from taking any pictures and Judy quickly looked about the police line for one of the animals she was familiar with.

Fangmeyer was one of the officers keeping the paparazzi at bay and the bunny shot her ears up and hopped over to him asking the tiger, "What's going on here?"

"Hopps? What're you doing here? I thought the boss had you assigned to the Bearington Bridge today," he remarked gesturing to one of the beavers trying to get a snapshot that he had his eye on him. "I saw the news and ran here as quick as I could, I figured I could be more help here," Judy admitted.

"Probably could, but I have orders from Bogo, no one gets in or out while the investigation is going on and that includes you," Fangmeyer admitted.

Judy nodded glancing past the tiger's imposing figure to see Higgens and another officer moving with some type of equipment toward the pool and realized that the victim must have drowned.

"Surely there is something I can do here to help," she insisted. Just then she felt a paw on her shoulder and turned about to see a familiar face smirking at her.

The red fox lowered his sunglasses and winked at his partner before stating, "You heard the man, Carrots. Nothing we can do here, and don't call him Shirley."

Hopps wanted to object as Nick pulled her away from the front of the police tape and muttered, "What's gotten into you? Storming into crime scenes without me."

"Sorry, I guess you got my message," Judy said lowering her ears to which Nick shook his head and remarked, "You should know by now that Fangmeyer is all muscle, if you want to get into that scene you gotta use your bunny brains."

She thought about it for a second and looked down at the bagel that she had been chomping on before saying, "I think I got an idea..."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two 

Donahue's Donuts were the best pastries this side of Little Rodentia, and if there was one thing that no officer on the ZPD could resist it was the smell of those delicious desserts.

Judy walked toward the yellow police tape again this time carrying about five boxes of the goodies to obscure her face and signaled for her partner to get ready to do his part.

"What's all this then?" Fangmeyer asked as he almost started to drool when he saw the glazed and sprinkled goods. "Paws off, this goes directly to Bogo!" Nick muttered slapping the tiger's paw away and lifting the police tape as Judy prepared to walk past.

"Hold on hold on, I don't think so," the tiger growled and then stood in their way once more. For a moment Judy thought the jig was up but then he reached into his pocket and took out a couple of bucks before muttering, "Just give me a few bear claws. They are my favorite."

"Well..." Wilde said trying to act as though the decision were a difficult one as he opened one of the donut boxes and added, "I don't know if we can do that.. seeing as they probably counted them."

Judy tilted back and forth trying to hold the boxes steady as Fangmeyer drooled visibly and muttered, "I will give ya anything, I been standing out here for hours without even so much as a sandbox break!"

Nick feigned interest for a moment as the tiger got into his wallet to give more money and then let Judy pass under the police tape even as the fox passed the hungry predator two of the glazed goodies. Fangmeyer eagerly stuffed his face as the two walked hastily toward the vestibule of Palm Tower.

"Pretty slick there Carrots," Nick commented as he pat her softly on the head and added, "We'll make a hustler out of you yet."

Judy ignored the statement as she carefully balanced the boxes in her arms while other officers rushed toward her to grab a pastry. Like the hungry animals they were, she soon found herself with just one box left and nearly stumbled backward and into Chief Bogo himself.

Turning about, the bunny smiled nervously at the stern buffalo as he stared down at her.

"Hopps? What are you doing here?" Bogo said as she looked down at the single box before replying, "Um... donut delivery?" The buffalo laughed and took a pastry for himself before muttering, "I guess traffic control can wait. We may have a real problem on our paws."

She smiled glad that the chief wasn't too upset with her for shirking her duties even as a large police cruiser arrived to take the body away.

"What happened?" she asked as two hippo officers lifted the deceased mammal out of the pool with a large net and onto a stretcher. She spotted Nick standing there watching and noticed a pale look on her friends face even as Bogo replied, "Obviously that is why we are here, Hopps. I was just about to head inside and talk to the owner, care to join me?"

She nodded eagerly leaving Nick outside as she followed the buffalo thru the revolving door into the grand lobby of the five-star hotel.

She had heard about how amazing the interior of the luxurious building was, but nothing seemed to compare to the real thing she thought as she struggled to take it all in. On either side of the tall roofed lobby were two massive glass elevators designed to handle mammals of all size, both looking inward toward the central chandelier which hung above the main desk of the lobby, illuminating the entire room with an array of fanciful golden light.

The pristine marble floors shone as brightly as the first day they had been installed as the two officers crossed the massive main lobby toward a crowd of customers that was irritably waiting for some kind of news as to what was happening outside the hotel. At the front of the crowd standing behind a long curved desk were several antelopes and hippos attempting to calm everyone's nerves and then a stout older looking giraffe approached them looking down right sick about the whole scene.

"Chief Bogo! Just the animal I wanted to see! What is this business about keeping us prisoner here? You know our guests expect quality service and this is anything but that!" the giraffe said as he craned his neck to briefly glance at Judy.

Unfazed by the brash tone of the taller mammal, Bogo matched it by declaring, "Mister Girafferey, as I have made it abundantly clear to your numerous times this morning; this investigation will come along much more quickly if you provide us with your full cooperation."

The owner looked a bit miffed by the buffalo and gestured to all of his employees handling the unexpected overcrowded lobby and explained, "All of these beasts are eager to check out and if I don't get them taken care of by 11 then my policy requires that they get a full refund!"

"Then I suggest you provide us with as much information regarding our victim as you can," Bogo proclaimed. Girafferey gestured for them to walk to the employee only area behind the desk and got one of his hippos on finding out more about the guest even as Judy spotted Nick running inside.

By the time her partner made it past the irate crowd he looked a little out of breath probably having run the whole way as he asked, "Did you leave me behind Carrots?"

The Police Chief spotted Wilde and the fox quickly explained the reason for his rush thru the crowd, "Morning boss, sorry for the spectacle. But I'm pretty sure I know who our victim is."

"You do?" Judy and Bogo asked simultaneously even as the fox eagerly answered, "Its Professor Prickleton!"

The two waited in silence for some sort of explanation on Nick's part and he stared back at them in surprise.

"You mean you never watched Prickleton's Planetarium? Come on! _There's Mercury and Venus and a whole lot of stars, there's asteroids and coments and our closest neighbor Mars_!" Nick said as he sung the last part of his spill.

Judy immediately got an image of an old school educational show she watched back when she was young and said, "He's a hedgehog right?"

"Exactly!" Nick said even as the hotel owner walked toward them and muttered, "Young man I can assure you I would recall a guest with such an absurd name."

"That's his stage name, he was a celebrity, longneck," the fox pointed out even as Bogo turned about and said, "Why not simply tell us who was staying in that hotel room?"

Mister Girafferey nodded as one of his clerks looked up the information on the computer and reported, "Looks like the room was checked out by a male hedgehog, Samuel Hodgepodge."

"Thats got to be him," Nick said confidently.

The chief said nothing as the giraffe manager got the key card stating, "Here you are, and please get a step on it. Keep in mind we do have a fully staffed restaurant but that can only keep these beasts tame for so long."

Bogo took the plastic card and turned to the two rookie officers remarking, "Since you seem so keen to be of use, Wilde why not head up with Hopps to canvas the suite?"

The bunny hopped up and grabbed the key from the buffalo's hooves before saying, "You won't be sorry chief."

Turning to Nick they walked thru the crowd toward one of the grand elevators and she said causally, "So... I take it you were a fan?"

"Well yeah," he began and then noticed her sly smirk before shrugging it off saying, "I may have watched an episode or two back in school."

"Mhmm..." Judy said teasing him as they pressed for the twenty-fourth floor of the massive hotel.

"What? A fox can't have idols?"

"Somehow I imagined an animal a little less tame," she said as the glass doors slid shut. "Oh hush," Nick remarked to which she added, "Can you sing that theme music again? I need to get it on video.."

The two chuckled softly as they rode up the elevator, ready for whatever the day might throw at them.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

When they entered the suite of the victim, the two police officers were no longer laughing because inside they saw clear evidence that Samuel Hodgepodge did not go down without a fight. The bed sheets were torn and scattered, the lamp smashed into the carpet, tables and chairs thrown about and of course the open window itself that wad completely broken apart by the hedgehog's fall.

In the middle of the chaos stood the mammal that Judy always considered her idol and Nick resisted the urge to roll his eyes when he recalled how typically the horse would have blinders on when it came to himself. And so would his partner he thought as he saw her swoon over the buff detective. Oates neighed for them to come closer as he and his officers, two uniformed pigs, tried to make sense of the scuffle that had clearly taken place.

"Ah good to see Bogo sent top notch officers to handle this, I always said that buffalo had a head for things," the horse commented as Nick and Judy looked at where the pigs were taking pictures of the velvet carpet.

Behind them one of the forensic analysts, a female sloth, was picking up any stray needles the hedgehog had left behind her careful slow eyes looking at every inch of the crime scene.

"I don't see very much blood," Nick commented in a tone that said he was a little relieved. Even though his child icon was now gone at least there was some comfort in knowing that his death was swift.

"Nor many marks save for the hedgehog himself, our killer was careful. The room has been wiped, I'm sure of it as sure as my snout is on my face," one pig said with a quick oink.

"There is a possibility we haven't considered," Oates said as he stared toward the window where Samuel had plunged and added, "It could be suicide."

The red fox frowned at this thought and shook his head muttering, "I don't think so, this guy had a zest for life. If any of you watched the show you would know that!"

"Yes, but eating bales of hay everyday can be monotonous," Oates said and Nick turned to Judy for translation, the bunny nodded and explained, "The detective is saying he might just have been acting and grew tired of it."

"I don't see a note!" Nick argued but even as the words left his lips the sloth analyst lifted a piece of paper from under the bed and muttered, "I... think... this... might... be... it."

Passing it to Detective Oates, the two officers waited as he examined it and then nodded saying, "Well that cinched it for me, definitely a suicide."

The fox ran over and grabbed the note examining it himself.

Goodbye cruel world, hello grim reality, it read.

"But it just doesn't make sense," Wilde said as he gestured to the way the room was disheveled and asked, "Why would anyone about to take their life decide to wreck a suite like this?"

"Maybe to throw us off the scent?" the other pig suggested.

Judy shook her head and said, "My partner has a point, that seems rather strange. Someone else must have wrote this note."

"Definitely... no... other..." the sloth began as she walked over to Oates and finished saying, "Paw... prints."

"So Samuel was alone, again, my snout never lies," the horse declared and added stubbornly, "Bogo wanted this resolved quickly so we could send these guests hope. Best way to do that is to reach the first conclusion and keep with it! An unsteady carriage easily collapses!"

"But that's just sloppy police work," Nick argued. "I can't help it," the pig put in as he instinctively rifled thru the garbage. Wilde ignored the comment and said, "You need to do a complete investigation; the killer could still be in this hotel."

"Or... long... gone..." the sloth pointed out. "that's true, the body seems to have been in the pool for a while. Whoever did the deed could be halfway across Zootopia by now," Judy remarked, frowning and realizing how much work they needed to do.

"I don't think the Chief will be very happy to hear that kind of news," the first pig said. "I'm sorry but my first obligation comes to keeping the citizens of this city happy. We can label this a suicide and call it a day," Oates decided.

"Shouldn't your first duty be to their safety? If you're wrong this killer could strike again," Hopps pointed out in frustration.

Nick rubbed his chin to think of a way they could see eye to eye with the horse and waved his partner aside putting an arm around the bulky waist of the taller mammal and saying, "Don't worry about the bunny, quickdraw. She didn't focusing on the real issue here."

"Which is?" Oates asked. "Your reputation! The animals of Zootopia have come to respect what you say, from the horse's mouth so to speak!" Nick explained as they walked over toward the window and he shook his head muttering, "It would be a crying shame if you were wrong about this. First you would lose your status quo with Bogo. Then next thing you know, no more free Jumbo-Pops from Jambeaux."

"I love those ones that taste like pineapple," Oates realized to which the fox nodded and said, "Now if you think about it, what's it going to hurt if say Carrots and I do a little digging to find out just why our victim was even here to begin with before make a decision about what led him to his untimely grave?"

The horse considered it, clearly focusing on what apparently mattered most to him and then nodded his head and said, "I suppose I could tell Bogo to give the investigation at least twenty four hours. Give us time to take all these items to the lab for analysis..."

"See? I knew you weren't a jack..." Nick paused and then bit his tongue and said, "I knew we could strike a deal."

Oates nodded following his two pig partners toward the entrance to the suite and said, "I'm counting on you, Hopps, Wilde. Don't make me look like a fool."

"Trust me, it won't be us," Nick said waving them as he pulled Judy away from objecting any further. The sloth, typically, was the last to leave but once the others were gone the bunny looked at him and muttered, "What was all that about?"

"I just bought us some time, after all you do want to get to the bottom of this don't you?" Nick asked as he began to make his way around the room. "Of course I do, but don't be rude to Detective Oates. He is a strong mare!" Judy replied. "Oh he is definitely a horse of a different color for sure," Wilde said as he paused and then looked up snapping his fingers.

"The cameras. We got to get that snooty giraffe to check them! Those will prove who was or wasn't in here with Prickleton," the fox explained grabbing her paw and rushing back to the hallway.

The bunny didn't even bother objecting as they raced back to the elevator, running to avoid some of the incoming guests that were getting their luggage out of the large glass transport.

Surprisingly the owner was there too along with two leopards that were dressed as bellhops, and Nick said, "Trying to bring in new guests already?"

"Your chief didn't say there was anything wrong with allowing that," Mister Girafferey commented looking at the two officers as the bellhops struggled to lift up the heavy luggage. "I guess that's true. Besides we should be out of here in no time," Nick said.

"Oh? I was told this would take another day at most?" the giraffe said a little excitedly at the thought his business might be back to normal soon.

"Well we need to check security cameras of the suite for at least the past twelve hours," Judy explained.

"Just make it quick," Girafferey said dismissively as he tapped on one of the bellhop's shoulder. "Quit loafing around and help these officers! On the double!" he ordered the leopard. The predator nearly stumbled backward as he dropped the guest's bags and growled under his breath for Nick and Judy to follow him.

Once they were back down at the main floor, the larger mammal gestured toward the stairs that led to the basement casino of the Palm Tower. Surprisingly, he noted that a lot of the patrons of the hotel were still trying their luck at coconut slots or some other gambling game the large underground arena had to offer.

The rhino who worked as a bouncer spotted them and let them pass without question as Nick heard cheers from some of the betters. "You think Hodgepodge lost some money down here?" Judy said almost reading his mind. "It won't hurt to check that footage either," the fox agreed.

"Oh one thing we forgot to tell you, we can only rewind the tapes. Fast forwarding results in erasing the data," the bellhop explained as they walked to the back of the dark room where several employees were watching the monitors to make sure none of the mammals cheated.

"What? It will take all day to watch these tapes," the bunny objected. The leopard let them into the record room where they kept the tapes from the previous day and muttered, "Have fun."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Three hours and twenty seven minutes later, Nick was starting to think that they were wasting their time watching the feed.

His partner on the other hand, overly zealous as usual; had managed to spot at least five mammals in the casino she was sure were cheating.

Sighing, he checked his watch for most likely the hundredth time and glanced at the screen he was watching, again no sign of Hodgepodge. Which only solidified his theory something rotten had happened to the hedgehog.

Nick yawned as his partner passed him a coffee and then said, "I think we might need to call this a day, Carrots."

"But we haven't seen anything yet," Judy objected. "Maybe that's the point. Someone must have doctored these tapes, it's either that or he became invisible," he remarked dryly.

Hopps let her ears flop down in sadness as they tried to muddle through what to do and then she declared, "Maybe he really did disappear." Nick shot her a curious glance and said, "What are you getting at Carrots?"

She bounced over to the monitor she had been watching and explained, "Something has been bothering me since I started this feed. I want you to watch and see if you can find anything out of place."

Nick slid his chair closer and saw the video pick up right where it left off, two polar bears were entering the casino wearing tacky clothing probably bought from a knockoff store and the rhino who worked as bouncer was checking them over.

The fox shook his head and said, "Other then bad taste in fashion I don't see much going on." "Not them, the bouncer! Do you see how midway through the process and suddenly his badge disappears?" she said pointing to it.

"If you knew then what was that for? A test?" he said irritably. "Got to see if you are as sharp as they say, partner," Judy said feeling proud of her discovery.

"That's exactly what I told you though, something is missing from these tapes," Nick said as he glanced back at the polar bears and added, "And I think I know who to ask. Come on!"

Leaving the record room, he and the bunny went to where the security guards were watching the live feeds and the fox scanned them quickly to spot the two bears. Then he walked toward the roulette wheel where the mammals were busy betting and announced, "I think you are a little too young to be gambling."

Judy looked at him in confusion and the bears seemed to ignore him as the crowd cheered and then they wagged their tails and Hopps spotted the tail of an animal that was clearly hiding under the tacky coat the bear was wearing.

"Come on now, does your mother know you are here... Fenneck?" Nick asked. This caused the small tail of the diminutive fox to stick up and then the polar bear turned around and out of the middle of his coat popped a familiar face.

"Nick? Nick Wilde? Hey! How you been homie?" Fenneck his old con partner asked. "Never better, what are you doing here?" the other fox asked. "I can tell you that, he has been keeping the game rigged. Look; he's got a magnet!" Judy declared angrily.

Fenneck frowned and said, "This is why I knew running into you would be bad news, Wilde. Your chick cramping my style!"

Nick shook his head and replied, "Look, maybe we can cut a deal?"

Judy looked a bit upset at the idea but he ignored her instead asking, "Would you happen to know if you saw somebody down here last night?"

"You kidding me? I ain't got time to be tracking mammals when I'm making a killing!" Fenneck growled. "This one was murdered last night," Judy said showing him a pic she got from the internet of Prickleton.

"Oh... is that why we cant leave? Nick is there a killer in our midst? Cause I swear you know I can go predator in a heartbeat!" the tiny fox declared.

"Well for now just try to remember if you saw him or not, and if you did then I promise I won't alert the security of this fine establishment that you are eating them out of house and home," Nick answered.

"So that's how it's going to be from now on eh? Sort of a you scratch my back thing and I scratch yours?" Fenneck said with a sniff and then shrugged saying, "Well, if ya can't beat em you join em."

Hopping out of the polar bears massive coat, the small fox got a look at the picture of the hedgehog and nodded his head saying, "You know what, I do remember this dude. But only cause he wouldn't shut the h e double hockey sticks up!"

"What did he say?" Judy asked excitedly.

"I dont know, seemed like gibberish and the same trash all these animals say here in the pit. How he was just about to strike it rich and things were turning around for him, something about a new gig he had lined up," Fenneck replied.

"A new gig? Maybe he got a contract with the film studio he was talking to," Nick considered. "And how do you know that?" Judy asked.

The fox shrugged shyly and said, "I might subscribe to a few fan sites online."

"Ooh so this dude was some washed up celeb huh? So why'd they off him?" Fenneck asked as Judy put her phone back in her pocket and said, "Thank you, I think that's all we need."

"Ah leaving me out of the loop? That's cold bunny, real cold," Fenneck said as he got back into his hiding spot and Nick laughed and said, "Yeah and we are gonna have to take that badge back that you stole to use as a magnet."

His old partner glared at him for a second and remarked, "You changed, Wilde. Anyway, I got other digs to get to. Peace!"

The duo left him without another word as Nick seemed lost in thought but before Judy could ask him a familiar giraffe was blocking their path.

"Well?" Girafferey asked as he crossed his long arms impatiently. "That's a deep subject," Wilde quipped.

"You told me you would have this wrapped up! And I haven't had a single update since breakfast!" the taller animal said. "Well, that was more like a ballpark estimate," the bunny admitted.

"You may think I have nothing better to do then to cater to you two, but I don't! I have bills to pay and zoning commissions to get to! I bet you thought being a hotel manager was a fruit walk!" Girafferey said with a huff. Nick glanced at Judy and the two knew that pleasing the mammal would take a little more effort this time so the fox said, "Well, how about you tell your guests that there might be a way they could get a full refund for today too?"

The giraffe looked at them in shock and stated, "That is beyond acceptable! I will have you know I plan to file a stiff complaint with your chief about this!"

Judy sighed and rubbed her forehead before saying, "Look how about we at least get the pool area open again? Then you wont be up to your neck in irritating guests."

"Whatever you do, Bogo is still getting a call from me!" Girafferey insisted as he stormed off.

"He certainly seems chipper," Nick said.

"His whole reputation is at stake, this is a four star establishment and something like this has never happened before here. I don't want Bogo to jump down on us either," his partner said nervously.

"Relax, I know the chief well enough that he doesn't take kindly to threats. He will back us up if that giraffe has an attitude when he calls," Wilde reassured her as they left the Palm Tower entirely.

"Okay... but where exactly do we go from here? We couldn't find a single clue for Hodgepodge here," Judy pointed out. "Meaning our culprit covered their tracks, and the chase is on," Nick realized as he pulled out his phone and added, "According to , the contract he was due to sign was with Camelgate studios."

"That's in downtown," she recalled. "Well it's a good thing I came in the cruiser," he said putting on his shades as they walked out of the plaza together.


End file.
